The BCS...

Florida/Alabama winner versus Texas in the BCS Championship Game.

Florida/Alabama loser versus TCU in the Sugar Bowl.

Cincinnati to the Orange Bowl.

Boise State to the Fiesta Bowl.

 

I think Bama will win by 7-10 points.

 

Can that scenario work out with all the mandatories/open slots for the BCS? Can Boise and TCU get in? BCS rules state that "No more than one such team from the non-AQ group (non-BCS teams) shall earn an automatic berth in any year."

Should FLA and BAMA run the table, barring a blowout, I think what happened last year might happen again this year. One will go to the NCG, the other will go to the Sugar (unless FLA wins. Does the Sugar want Bama two years in a row?). So that's two of the ten. OSU will play the Pac Ten champ in the Rose Bowl. That's four. Cincy, unless they go to the NCG, goes back to the Orange to play (let's say) GA Tech (ACC champ). I think the Fiesta gets TCU as the standings lie today and maybe Bama goes there (see above).

If Boise and TCU both go undefeated, it would be neat to see them in the Fiesta. Why? Because you'd have an undefeated left at the end of the year that would be chirping. If Cincy won their bowl, you'd have another. Three potential unbeatens. No playoff.

For all those who say four is the max for a playoff...today we have six unbeatens in FBS, the top 6 in the BCS. Four just isn't enough. 8 may be too many. 6 is doable and I could live with 8. But 4 is just begging for controversy.

Consider this scenario: let's say Texas loses one game, esp if it's the conf championship. You could wind up with them still going to the title game. Or if not, then they're out. What happens if there's a close SEC title game. Do you do a rematch for the national title? It's happened before. FLA vs FLA St in, what, 1996?

I don't believe for one second the BCS wants controversy. It wants to say it eliminates it. It doesn't.

Back to the playoff. A six team playoff today: Texas plays Boise St, winner to play Bammer. TCU plays Cincinnati (whoa nellie) and the winner plays Fla. Eight teams? Fla plays LSU in a rematch. GA Tech plays Bammer (that would be a great matchup). TCU vs Cincy again and Texas plays Boise St. I like the six team playoff better.

 

I think FLA wins over Bammer. Bammer may have issues with Auburn, though the Tigers are stumbling down the backstretch. Bammer will once again limp into a BCS game, where hopefully they will be destroyed once again.

Today I think Fla is the best in the nation. Texas is next, then Bama. I think the biggest pretender is Boise St (they get 13 games, interestingly). They beat Oregon and then no one in particular. TCU has beaten two top 16 teams handily, won at a ACC division champ. Cincy clearly has the toughest route (reg season) to undefeated status as they must play at a top ten team in their final game (Pitt) and would be a BCS conf champ. You know they're rooting for some folks to stumble. They legitimately could sneak in the NCG. TCU and Boise have no chance, IMHO. Their lovely parting gifts are waiting. Boise is going to have to schedule someone with some gravitas and beat them.

 

Obligatory I hate the BCS post

As heard on ESPN this morning:

Rece Davis: Cincinnati beat more Top 25 ranked opponents than Texas did. Why should Texas get the nod over them?

Mark May: Because Texas has been ranked higher, 2, 3, 4, all season.

Ugh.

What a stupid argument. Cincinnati wasn't on anybody's radar at the beginning of the season, so they weren't as highly ranked as Texas in the arbitrary poll, so of course Texas gets the nod over them. Heaven forbid those 2 teams should play an actual game to settle anything.

Maybe Texas deserves the nod over Cincy, but the "higher ranked" argument isn't the reason.

They may not want it, but as long as the money keeps rolling in, they don't mind it.

 

Texas could not have handled that worse, and I disagree with putting a second back on the clock. I've yet to hear if the timekeeper on the field went to zero or not. If he did, that's the ballgame. Anyone heard either way?

It's a bit of circular reasoning. "The reason Cincy isn't rated higher is because they weren't ranked higher." May wasn't upset upset about his Panthers being downed by the Bearcats, was he? Texas is given de facto credit just for being from a power conference. The Big East is considered inferior in the voters' minds. It is considered to be the weakest of the BCS conferences. I think that's too bad. Did the Big 12 title game help Neb if they get in? Did Cincy having squeakers down the stretch hurt them?

Everyone has looked at the SEC title game as a semi-final. Look at how much we've heard that saying over the last several days. How much better would this be if we had a playoff. And this "integrity of the bowls?" Auburn allegedly (and deservedly) lobbies into the Outback. Pitt, for running-up in the Big East, will play (likely) in the Papajohns.com bowl. Nice integrity.

 

Easy solution this year.

The Saturday before the Super Bowl let the winner of Bama/Tx play the winner of TCU/Boise...but then you still have the chance of Cincy winning.

 

I think Boise St has no argument. Their schedule was weaker, as was their conf. Let Texas play Cincy and Bama play TCU with the winners to square off. Four teams would be enough to decide it this year. Sorry Boise. If you want to play with the big boys, play the big boys.

 

I like the idea of having the six BCS conference champions plus 2 at large bids, which this season would go to TCU and Boise State - an 8 team playoff.

 

Florida would get one of your bids, Ken. That's why I have come to believe 8 teams are probably too many.

 

I would not give Florida one of them. They had the opportunity to win the SEC and failed. It was basically a playoff game versus Alabama.

Another option would be to add the Mountain West and the WAC to the BCS to make 8 conferences and the playoffs would consist of the 8 conference champions.

 

Ken, TPTB would never do such a simple system. It makes far too much sense. :smilewinkgrin:

 

Or you could simply have an 8 team playoff consisting of the highest rated conference champions. If we had to keep some inane Notre Dame provision, we could say that an independent school gets in if they are ranked higher than the 6th/7th/8th highest rated conference champion.

 

Roll Tide Roll! Glad that they beat Fla. Like Tebow but not the Gators!

 

Suppose 2008 happened again and Fla lost one game but still won the SEC? My point being that it seems unfair that a one game loss so late in the season has a much greater (seemingly so- I am not a statistican) impact than an earlier loss might. It also seems that strength of the conference would need to be considered.